The Lawman's Baby. Patricia Johns
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replied, then used the spatula to cut the omelet in half and serve it up. “Maybe it’s lucky you’re here in Eagle’s Rest right now. At least your shift should be an easy one.”
“Yeah, that’s part of the problem,” he replied, and she could hear a note of bitterness in his tone. “I’m the kind of guy who doesn’t relax too easily. I need a challenge. A bad guy. A crime ring. Something.”
“A baby?” she said, raising an eyebrow.
Mike passed her a fork. “That came out of left field.”
“This boring tourist trap is actually a great place to raise kids,” she said. “I grew up here. It’s calm. Safe.”
“How calm is it if you’re burning out in Social Services?” he countered.
“To be fair, I service the surrounding towns, as well,” she replied.
But he had a point. That was the problem with this job. She could live in a gorgeous little tourist destination, and still be faced with the most heartrending cases. No community was immune, because it was life. She believed in the job, in the importance of what social workers did for the community. She just wasn’t sure she could do it anymore. There were tougher people who could pick up where she left off.
Paige followed Mike to the table and sat down. He pulled the bassinet a little closer and looked inside. Benjie had fallen back to sleep, and for a couple of minutes they both ate in silence.
“You know what it’s like,” she said. “There’s always someone getting hurt, needing help. And for the longest time, I thought that if I could just offer that help, I’d be doing something for those vulnerable people.”
“But it’s always more complicated than that,” he concluded.
She nodded, then leaned back against her chair. “Aren’t you ever tired of being seen as the bad guy? I mean, you’re the one who has to arrest the abusive dad in front of the kids. You’re the big, bad authority figure. For a lot of people, you’re the enemy.”
“It’s all perspective,” Mike replied. “I’ll be the bad guy to someone. Especially, if I’m locking him up. But I’m the good guy to someone else who’s being protected.”
“Even if you’re doing the right thing in arresting the abusive dad, the kids don’t think you’re the good guy,” she countered.
“Sure. I guess.”
“The very people you’re protecting are going to hate you,” she said. “At least, that’s the way it seems to turn out all too often.”
“I figure anything worthwhile is going to tick off somebody.”
Paige wanted to make a difference, too, but how much of her own emotional health was she willing to sacrifice in order to do that?
Mike finished the last of his omelet and stood up.
“Thanks for cooking breakfast. Leave the mess in the living room. I’ll take care of it tonight.”
“I can tidy up,” she said.
“I’m not the kind of guy who expects a woman to cook and clean. You’re here for the baby, not for me. I should be able to take care of myself at this point.”
“You’re part of the job, Mike,” she said.
“Not really.”
“Oh, completely.” She smiled ruefully. “I’m teaching you baby care, aren’t I? And Benjie won’t thrive unless you’re okay, too.”
“I’m okay,” he said.
“If you need anything, you have to tell me,” she said. “You’ve got me for three weeks, so make the most of this.”
“Yeah.” He met her gaze with a small smile. “I will.”
He started doing up his shirt buttons, then slowly turned and headed out of the kitchen, still buttoning. She watched him go. Mike was very much part of her job. Unfortunately, her emotions were at risk of getting entangled wherever she put her energy—into caring for a baby, or into the floundering dad.
* * *
“OFFICER MCMANN,” THE chief said as Mike came into the station that morning. Mike had a travel mug in one hand, and he took a sip of coffee as he turned toward the chief.
“Good morning,” Mike said.
“You look like a train wreck,” the chief said with a short laugh. “How’s the baby?”
“Eating often,” Mike replied. “But otherwise good.”
“Glad to hear it. Is Paige working out?”
Working out. She wasn’t a housekeeper or something... She was turning out to be a lifesaver, and an image of her concerned gaze and her hair tucked behind her ears as she shook bottles full of formula crowded his overtired mind.
“Yeah, she’s...great. She knows what she’s doing, and that’s what I need, right?”
She was also comforting, and a little distracting. Not that he’d tell the boss that.
“If you need another few days off—” the chief began.
“No, no,” Mike said with a shake of his head. “I’d rather get back to work.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.” Work had always been his solace, and right now, he didn’t need to be leaning on the too-pretty nanny. She said he was part of the job, but he didn’t intend to be. He’d take care of himself.
Mike headed toward his desk in the back corner of the bull pen, rubbing a hand through his hair. It was going to be a long day, but he had good reason to want to be here, and it had nothing to do with impressing his boss. It wasn’t only the baby that had kept him up last night. He was worried about Jana. His sister had just abandoned her newborn, and while Safe Haven laws meant that Jana was perfectly within her rights to hand her newborn to a hospital employee with no questions asked, Mike was her brother—and he was damn well asking a few questions. He just wasn’t sure how he was going to get those answers.
He logged into his computer and pulled up the phone numbers for the hospital where Benjie had been left. His sister had given the nurse a lot more information than most mothers did who were taking advantage of the Safe Haven laws. She could have simply handed the baby over and walked out, but she’d obviously wanted her son to go to family.
Was Jana going to change her mind? Would she want the baby back?
He had too many questions, but the main one was what had happened to Jana to make her give up her newborn baby? She had been together enough to know about the laws, to remember to give his contact information... Was she still with the father? Was she on her own and desperate? Or was there some loser involved who she couldn’t get away from? She was obviously doing some drugs, and that was never a good sign. But if he was going to help her, he needed detailed answers.
Mike called a few different numbers, and was transferred three times before he was put in touch with the hospital social services worker who had done the paperwork for Benjie.
“Officer McMann,” she said with a smile in her voice. “How’s the little guy doing?”
“Good. Really good,” Mike said.
“I’m glad to hear it. What can I do for you?”
“I was hoping to get a little more information about my sister.”
“You know I can’t do that.” Her voice softened. “She was within her rights to relinquish the baby, and if we don’t respect those privacy rights, the whole system fails.”
Yeah, he did. The Safe Haven laws were in place so that babies need not be abandoned in unsafe environments. If a mother didn’t want her baby, she could simply hand it over